Daily Republican., 1887-02-25
Pr.sss.,pe As.i.;ss on.reu. r..,..

Protsseipg Agsinst Onerous Taxss.
An adjourned meeting Of the BoardV
of Trade wns held Lest nfehtfo aet rponl
. prepared memorial TO the LeRislaturelt
asking for the repeal Of the Law exact II
ing tax Of one-tenth Of one per cent.
upon the gross purchases OF manufac.
tufers and n merchants. Job Il. jackson
was called to the chair and Calvin q.
Phillips acted - secretary. Mr.. Geo.
w. Bush, from the committee TO draft
the memorial, presented the following I,
ITO the Senate and House Of Repro
sentatives Of the State OF Della ware.
HThe Board Of Trade Of the city of
Wilmington would respectfully rs stition
| the Senate and House Of Representa-.
tives Of the State Of Delaware for . re-
| peal Of the law laying . tax OF one tenth /
| OF ono per cent. on tho purchase Of man.
ufActurers and merchandise, or, II In |
their wisdom they ind that 1t 10 not for |
tho best interests Of the State to repeal |
the law, the board would petition that
IL be modified either BY . reduction In
the amount, or by substituting graded
license system, 20 as to be less burden
some to business interests OF the State.
And they would respectfully call the|
attention Of the Legislature to the fol-
lowing facts:
"rhe tax law referred to wsa snacted
as war tax, when the state was heav-|
lily In debt ~ the result Of the war ex.
greatly reduced IL ID no longer Mt cessAry
TO raise - large an amount Of money ~
then.
'This tax In burdensome and oppressive
TO both manufacturers and merchants,
} and places the man ufacturers of our
, State In unequal competition with other
States where no such tax exists.
tin consequence OF the great compe-
tition that now exists the profits of both
man ufacturers and merchants are much
] less than at the time this law was en-
. acted, and the law 10 there fore much
, more oppressive than at that time.
j. anufacturers from other States re
( hindered from locating In this State, as
( this tax is unusual and without pre-
d cedent in other ststes. One case can be
t mentioned as an example, Of large
q mar ufacturing establishment employ.
ling about / 500 hands, which removed
: from PhilAdelphia and had decided tc
!: locate In Delaware, but on account o.
70 this tax determined otherwise, aud
% located near Chester.
sl "Another objection to this tax is tina
10 It is inquisitofial In It's nature, ant
D therefore uncertain In Its enforoem ent
'eI "A very serious objection Is that 1t Il
!, cumulative In Its nature, 30 that tn
d same material is taxed repeatedly IL
X different hands. For example, the iI0I
manufacturer purchases the raw ma
ID terial, pig iron, and pays tax on 1t
., the boiler maker buys the same mater
10 ial manufactured into plate iron, ant
10 pays 9 an additional tax, aud the pur
chaser of the boiler pays third tax.
ri ''This tax ID not ON invested capita
N nor on the profits Of business men Il
20 the prosecution of their business, bu
it ON the gross amount Of business don
90 by them which may not result In IN
ty Ipecuniary profit; for all these reasons
10 not such . tax as should be continue
to perm anently, but should be 30 modifie
he as not 10 interfere with the growth an
itlprosperity Of the business interests
)n the State.
"The Board of Trade respectful
on calls the attention Of the Legislature
70 these facts, believing that they will n
bet wisely and prudeptly, and with sil
lcere desire for the public good"
llsI Mr.. Lawton called attention to ii
IN, fact that another onerous tax on me
les obants was that which required u
M mercantile firm to pay Q regular Sta
O. license, and in addi.ien compelled tn
same firm TO pay license Of $2b es,
for every agent shey sent through tl
State to solicit orosrs, andin default
at the pay ment OF said license the agen
were liable to be arrested and fn'
$50, one half to 60 to the informer.
Mr.. Bush said he was not aware
for that fact, though he had ssnt ager
tor down the State to solicit orders.
the Mr.. Lawton stated that though su
4 we agents were not arrested they we
get liable to arrest. Mr.. Phillips said
ect was fact that special licenses had
be paid for aaents Of commercial fri
a,a who solicited orders In the State,
n a same as agents from other States wht
ier firms paid no licenses In the State.
thaI 1t was generally conceded by
an. present that this was an onerous
"a quirement that should be repealed
once, and Mr.. Phillips and Mr.. Law'
were appointed TO prepare . memor
uss to the Legislature, asking for the rep
Vi Of the nome agents lioenee tax.
Iors Mr.. Phillips WAS instructed to
aers pare petitions to be signed, askine
repeal of the one.teDth Of one per ce
sen. tax ON manufacturers and merchar
yew The Board will hold . regular sta
day meeting on Thursday night next.
z toI s-